Colorado Supreme Court won’t reconsider oil and gas decision

A crude oil storage tank behind a fence near Mead, Colorado. On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court rejected a request to reconsider its ruling that oil and gas regulators don't have to make health and environmental protection their top priority. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who include Hispanics and Native Americans, hoped for stronger health and environmental rules. They asked the justices to revisit their ruling, arguing that it was partially based on an opinion written by a lower court judge who resigned after allegedly using slurs.Brennan Linsley / AP | AP

DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court refused to reconsider its ruling that oil and gas regulators do not have to make health and environmental protection their top priority.

The court offered no explanation in its announcement, dated Monday and made public Tuesday.

Seven young plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit seeking stronger health and environmental rules had asked the court to revisit the Jan. 14 ruling. The plaintiffs include Hispanics and Native Americans, and they argued that a lower court judge who had a hand in the case may have been biased against them.

The judge, Laurie Booras of the state Court of Appeals, wrote an opinion opposing the plaintiffs, and the Supreme Court cited her opinion in its ruling.

Booras resigned this month after a disciplinary panel said she used racial slurs and demeaning nicknames for a Native American woman and a Hispanic woman. The Hispanic woman was a fellow Court of Appeals judge.

The panel said Booras created the appearance of impropriety and undermined public trust in her impartiality.

The panel also said Booras told a third party that she intended to write an opinion against the plaintiffs, a violation of confidentiality rules.

Booras declined to comment Tuesday through her attorney, David Beller.

Our Children’s Trust, which supported the young plaintiffs, said it was disappointed that the Supreme Court would not reconsider the case nor explain why.

“The seven youth plaintiffs, and all Coloradans, deserve an explanation from the Colorado Supreme Court,” the group said in a statement.

The original lawsuit argued that state law requires the oil and gas commission to ensure energy development does not harm people’s health or the environment. The plaintiffs asked the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2013 to require those protections before issuing any drilling permits.

The commission refused, saying the law required it to balance health and environmental concerns with other factors. The Supreme Court agreed with the commission.